My senior parents have owned griffons for 25 years for bird hunting. They now have two females, ages 3 and 14. Both are spayed, vaccinated, and go to the vet regularly.
My parents got the younger dog as a pup. The 14 yo has had health issues and went blind prior to the younger dog joining the family, so they never played or could do much together—but the older dog has always tolerated the younger one and just does her own thing (which is mostly sleeping these days).
The younger one is not especially well trained due to my dad being too old to put in the dedication like he used to. (She doesn’t obey immediately, she’s very rambunctious when excited, etc.) Despite this, she has still been a lot of fun to have around. She’s extremely cuddly with all people and very friendly with other griffons she meets on hunting trips. I would even say she’s too submissive and sensitive—there is a lot of rolling over to display her stomach to people and piddling on the floor if spoken to firmly.
Yesterday, while my parents were in the kitchen with both the dogs, the younger one suddenly went running full tilt and viciously attacked the older one from behind, taking her down to the floor and biting her ears/neck. My dad got bit badly in the process of trying to separate them. It was very traumatic, particularly for their old blind dog. My parents immediately went out and bought a muzzle and have been trying to keep the dogs separated using a crate or keeping in separate rooms.
Today, my teenagers and I went over to visit them and spent a lot of time with the younger dog outside, as we normally do. Walking her, throwing balls, giving treats, etc. She seemed perfectly normal and as happy as she always is.
But after dinner, when my dad was bringing her back inside from going to the bathroom, she (while muzzled) saw the older dog standing in the dining room and immediately lunged at her again. She was snarling violently, teeth bared, and jumped on top of her to take her to the floor. My dad couldn’t get her off on his own.
Put simply, my parents are in their late 70s and too old and feeble to control this situation. I’m very concerned that they’re going to get more seriously injured. We are shocked to see this behavior from a griffon, especially this dog. (And especially this sudden.)
Does anyone have experience with this, or any thoughts on why such an immediate change of behavior?
As sad as it is, I think the young dog needs a new home ASAP but my dad is very attached and refuses to entertain it. Is this something that can actually be fixed by professional training? I worry that even if my dad got someone who could help, he wouldn’t be consistent enough on his own for it to remain effective…